Lesotho. Say it three times. Think Colin Firth as George VI in the movie “The King’s Speech.” Lesotho Lesotho Lesotho. There’s a tongue-twister for you. And where oh where in the world is it, anyway? I’ve never been good at geography, so right there in the checkout line at Big 5 Sporting Goods I askContinue Reading “Levi’s: Made in Lesotho. But You Knew That, Right?”

American Apparel CEO Now Literally Using Old Porn Pics as Ads: There’s a case to be made that the ads are faux child pornography dressed as adult porn, and they’re pretending to advertise AA’s clothes when in fact they’re just some pictures Charney saw in a porn magazine. — –Jim Edwards, bnet.com, January 26, 2011 Continue Reading “To Love or Not to Love Dov”

Michelle {whose cooking skills are, like the middle class in China, emerging} will have to wait a couple of days for her replacement microwave. On Sunday, Don and I will take a leisurely drive to visit her. The three of us will browse the Home Depot appliance section together. That way, when I sigh andContinue Reading “P.S.”

We’re going back to Thomas Edison’s principles. We’re going to build stuff and invent stuff. President Barack Obama on January 21, 2011, at GE Energy’s Plant in Schenectady, NY *** They’re laughing at us all the way to the bank. Donald Trump commenting on the Chinese delegation’s recent visit to the USA *** So I’mContinue Reading “Paging Jeffrey Immelt”

Ironically, for a country that still claims to be communist, China has grown far more unequal of late. Many peasants and workers share little in the country’s growth, while others are ruthlessly exploited. Corruption is pervasive, which exacerbates existing inequalities. At a local level there are countless instances in which government colludes with developers toContinue Reading “Will the Real China Please Stand Up?”

The number of Americans officially designated as living in poverty in 2009–43 million –was the highest in the 51 years that records have been kept…[meanwhile] China’s economy roars along at a steady clip, having lifted some half a billion people out of poverty over the past three decades and rapidly created the world’s largest middleContinue Reading “One Skirt at a Time”

“My only criticism of the whole thing is of Michelle Obama’s choice of designer and dress. I think it was absolutely wrong for her to wear something by a foreign designer, particularly at a dinner for China, with which we have a terrible trade imbalance.” —Vanity Fair writer Bob Colacello to VF Daily Amen, Bob. WeContinue Reading “Vera Wang and Apple Pie”

But where shall wisdom be found? and where is the place of understanding? –The Book of Job, 28:12 I arrive home from the grocery store in the early evening, just as the rain’s beginning to fall. It’s so cold I wonder if it may snow. For those of us in the Bay Area, that’s aContinue Reading “Learning Curve”

“Tell me what you eat, and I shall tell you what you are.” –Anthelme Brillat-Savarin (1755-1826) Field Research, Part One: Sunday morning I head over to the local donut shop; an obvious attempt to forget China Factory Syndrome. I’m pretty sure this craving traces back to my days as a Catholic school girl. EveryContinue Reading “Melting Pot”